Encores! Off-Center, dedicated to presenting rarely produced Off-Broadway musicals, has named Anne Kauffman to assume the role of artistic director for the 2019 season of programming.

Last year Kauffman joined Founding Artistic Director Jeanine Tesori to guide the Off-Center series through the 2018 season, completing the vision of former artistic director Michael Friedman, the late composer lyricist who died last September at the age of 41.

Kauffman previously directed the Stephen Sondheim­–John Weidman musical Assassins for Encores! Off-Center in 2017.

“I am so very grateful to Michael Friedman for asking me to direct Assassins two summers ago. He introduced me to City Center and to what musical theater is and could be. Michael Friedman, Jeanine Tesori, and City Center have had an immeasurable impact on my artistic path and I am thrilled to have the opportunity to continue this collaboration,” Kauffman said in a statement. “Off-Center provides audiences with the opportunity to experience the work of artists like Micki Grant and Vinnette Carroll alongside contemporary composers like Jason Robert Brown. I’m really looking forward to putting together the next season.”

Kauffman’s recent directing credits include Mary Jane, Hundred Days, Marvin’s Room, A Life, Marjorie Prime, The Nether, Belleville, and Smokefall.